Stress and strain go with keys to No 10

Tony Blair joins a list of Prime Ministers whose premiership has been interrupted or cut short by bouts of ill health.

Renowned for his love of exercise as a way of unwinding, Mr Blair nevertheless faces huge stresses and strains as Britain's leader.

Harold Macmillan suffered prostate trouble when he was Prime Minister. It was diagnosed in October 1963 and, believing it to be worse than it was, he resigned.

When the Queen came to accept his resignation, he wrote: "The bed covers were down, and concealed under the bed was a pail, with a tube full of bile coming out of me. I made my resignation to the Queen of England for an hour in great discomfort."

Harold Wilson was reported to have had heart palpitations while visiting Paris in 1975 and was taken back to Chequers, where he spent a week recovering.

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This was never made public and instead, the world was told Mr Wilson was recovering from flu. He also suffered from memory problems after his retirement and died peacefully in his sleep aged 79 in 1995.

Sir Winston Churchill fell ill during the 1950s as Prime Minister but the facts were kept from the public.

He suffered a severe stroke in office with few of his colleagues realising this, and the public unaware.

In 1954, Macmillan wrote of Churchill: "He is now quite incapable - mentally as well as physically - of remaining Prime Minister. He thinks about one thing all the time - the Russian visit and his chance of saving the world - until it has become an obsession."